Cognitive scientist Suzanne Dikker (New York University/Utrecht University) and digital artist Matthias Oostrik, makers of the Mutual Wave Machine won Art of Neuroscience, an international competition for the best image in the field of neurosciences. Art of Neuroscience was initiated by Dutch neuroscientist Tycho Hoogland, and is supported by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The Art of Neuroscience Competition 2016 received over 120 submissions, spanning 6 continents and 21 different countries. Winners were announced at a special event during the FENS Forum of Neuroscience in Copenhagen on July 5th, 2016.

The Mutual Wave Machine (MWM) is an interactive neurofeedback installation and neuroscience experiment, that embodies the elusive notion of ‘being on the same wavelength’ with another person through brainwave synchronization. The installation can be used for educational purposes as well. An international jury praised the interactivity of the contribution as well as its artistic representation of present-day scientific work.

Honorable mentions

Honorable mentions: Exploding Brain Myths , a cartoon that convincingly nullifies some persistent myths on workings of the brain, Axons in Shape, a pop-up art interpretation of axons and Butterfly of the Soul, a ‘selfie’ of the neuron. The painting Aurore Boreale was praised for its almost photographic reproduction of the neuroanatomy of the human brain.